Summer holidays - a cheap way of doing it?

[marilynmonroe]

So this is our first year of having to take our holidays in the summer holidays. We would like to go away for 2 weeks and either have an apartment somewhere in europe. Wish list would be walking distance to the beach and a shared pool and walking distance to some nice resturants /little town.

I've done a bit of research and any holiday like this comes to around £4k. I can't believe how expensive it is!!

is there a way it can be done cheaper? any tips or advice from you experienced Mumnetters?

We really want a holiday this year and at the moment can't see it happening if this is the money we have to pay.

Thanks all!

Is eurocamp any cheaper?

Not a great expert but we're off on our first family foreign holiday this year and initially came to the same conclusion as you. Then late last summer i stumbled across some very cheap easy jet flights to Iceland for peek times this year. We have a holiday cottage booked in a lovely location with a big outdoor spa and are in the process of booking car hire. It will be about £1200 + spends.

I was looking into the South of France for summer, go onto the ownersdirect website it has a good range of properties. Accomodation wasnt too pricey but flights in the summer holidays were extortionate although flying from some non-London airports such as Bristol and Bournemouth did bring prices down. I also looked at taking the Eurostar and TGV to get there but with a 6 and 2 yr old thought that it might be too much of a faff especially if we have to change in Paris. In the end decided on a cottage in Tenby for summer hols

Look at Skyscanner.net for flights then Owners Direct or Holiday Rentals for accommodation. Places like Nerja or the Costa Del Luz in Spain tend to have cheap accommodation as there are a glut of Brits with second homes.

Or you can use Tesco points for the Eurotunnel and drive to France. Gite complexes tend to be cheaper than the mobile home sites. How many of you are there and where would you fly from. Bet I can find you a better bargain....

Look for cheap flights , sky scanner is great for that. Spain and Portugal have some really great decently priced accommodation. Trip advisor now have a rentals section which is great so that you can read other people's reviews. We do it that way every year and hire a car. Works out half the price of package holidays

When money was very tight we used Tesco points for Eurotunnel (or ferry) and booked a mobile home directly with a campsite in France. Used to cost around €800 for a week but possibly more expensive now

Would you consider doing a house swap? I've never done it but lots of people do & get a great holiday for the price of the fare to get there + normal day to day food etc.

House swap. So far been to southern Spain, southern Italy, Paris, Lake District and more. Holiday for cost of travel. We swap car too if you fly. Beware it's addictive! Have summer lined up now plotting Easter in Amsterdam...

house swaps intrigue me, how do they work and do you need a big house to start with?

Definitely book a holiday cottage or apartment directly. Drive to south France will cost about £600 all in. Then choose a property to suit your budget. You should be able to do travel and accommodation for under £2k.

I found last year that the cheapest way to do it is with a package holiday. Not stylish at all but cheap compared with the independently arranged holiday.

Eurocamp/keycamp/ canvas/mathews holidays. Chalet/ mobile home on campsites with good pool complexes, entertainment, near beaches -take car on ferry..cost around £1200 to France, depending on type of accommodation. time of ferries etc

Eurocamp/keycamp/ canvas/mathews holidays. Chalet/ mobile home on campsites with good pool complexes, entertainment, near beaches -take car on ferry..cost around £1200 to France, depending on type of accommodation. time of ferries etc

Book a villa on holiday lettings. Lake balaton Hungary.
£600-1000 will get you a villa few bedrooms with pool. Price depending on size and how close to lake

£1000 will cover 4 flights and transfers/ train/ car hire in Hungary

Most villas on the lake will come with canoes/ bikes and you can hire sunbeds by lake. Lake is so big it's like being by the sea

Food is cheap. Either in restaurant, or supermarket and throw on BBQ at villa. For a few hundred you might be able to get a local housekeeper/ cook

I did a thread recently asking if i could get accomodation for 4 in europe for £500.
there were loads of suggestions.

here it is,

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_advice_tips/1939459-Is-it-possible-to-hire-a-villa-apartment-in-Europe-for-500-in-August?msgid=43936886

Oh and if you go for apartment with shared pool rather than villa with private pool it will be much cheaper

We have had 3 weeks in Sri Lanka and that worked out at £900 each including flights and a private car and driver for the whole time. You can rent beach houses for about £150 week upwards. But there is so much to do there we travelled around every 3rd day. Great beaches and safaris,feeding baby elephants. The best place was a hotel called Turtle Bay near Tangalle which was £95 half board for 2 adults amazing beaches and bird sanctuary next door which you can take a boat trip to fishing as you go.

We never pay much more than £2000 for 4 of us (the kids are over 12 so count as adults) for 2 weeks in a SC apartment with pool in Greece. I book budget airline flights and accommodation either directly or through Travel Republic.

Booking independantly really does cut down the cost of a holiday.

We always have to go in school holidays now. Last year we went to Granada, stayed in a villa with a pool and it cost around £1,800 total for flights and accomodation, the previous year we went to Tuscany and again had a villa with a pool for around the same cost.

This year I have boooked flights to Turkey already at just over £1,000 for 4 of us and I am now looking for a villa or apartment, I am hoping to pay around £1,000 for the accomodation, less if it is an apartment.

There are lots of sales on flights at the moment so you should be able to get a good deal, then look at Holiday lettings or Owners Direct for villas and private apartments or somewhere like Travel Republic for hotels and apartments.

Package holidays are very expensive.

You should be able to get an apartment for less than 4k.

Accommodation in South of Spain or in Portugal is very reasonable even in school holidays.
We have managed to get modern 4 bedroomed large villas with private pools on golf complexes and flights and car hire for 4 of us for around that.
Apartments in those complexes are a lot cheaper.

Before school holidays we often used to go to Pollensa in Mallorca or South of France however we can't get the same size or standard of Accommodation without paying about 3k more on top in July or August so have had to look else where for the meantime. Good luck there will be something out there!

Thanks for all the great advice! Lots to think about and explore. We have looked on owners direct but like the idea of haggling.

We did euro camp last year and it was ok although weather in France was shockingly bad so want to somewhere where the sun will shine!